First Draft [Partington]

Although in my opinion Victor made many mistakes throughout his creation and upbringing of Frankenstein, I think his biggest mistake was creating the monster in the first place. I think regardless of the motivations and attitudes that Victor had when creating the monster, the decision to attempt to create life from the dead was a poor decision. In my opinion, creating life is a slippery slope against the natural path of humanity and ways of life. Through falsely creating life, one is going against the nature of humanity, and the roles the biology plays into our world. I think the environment in which Victor was in blinded him of the consequences of his actions, and the reality of the things he was doing. Victor was raised in a household that valued success in academia, and went to an institution where he was working. During the actual creation of the monster he was alone and the only thing in his life was the creation of the monster. He wasn’t thinking about the consequences of his actions or about what he was doing in the first place. (Possibly talk about his thoughts going into it about the realistic failure/success of the project). Victor as a character is a person who strongly values following through with his goals once he begins them. This is visible through his aggressive pursuit of the monster throughout Europe and beyond, and it is also visible in his constant goal of marrying Elizabeth which was instilled upon him from a young age (add quotes here). In a similar way, due to his nature once he had the goal of creating the monster he didn’t question it, but knew that it was something he needed to complete for the sake of his nature as a person who doesn’t give up.

The physical way in which the monster was made in my opinion was in poor taste. If the monster was made through modification of biological cells or through some form of creation of matter I think it would still not be a good decision, but not as bad as using cadaver parts to create a human. His decision to dig up and use pieces from already dead humans not only disrespects the dead who didn’t give consent to their bodies being used in this format, but also disregards the notion of respect for the dead. Cutting apart dead bodies and sewing them together with others disrespects their bodies and their loved ones who are still alive.

The creation of life in a way that is unnatural to the ways we know is something that is very dangerous to society. If this process were to be refined and perfected by some fashion, I still would question the procedure as it brings into question our definition of life and humanity. It raises the possible questions of creating life that could potentially outlive natural human life, and it brings into question the notion of immortality and the ethics behind human life and death.

I think Victor also made the mistake of abandoning the fiend after creating it, and not exploring what he had created. As a scientist and an academic I think he owed credit to his profession and research to investigate further into what he had created and how the biology behind his creation functioned in order to result in the creation of life. I think this aspect of his creation is not as bad as his abandonment of the creature. No human would ever give birth to a child, and set it free without allowing attempting to give it some upbringing and introduction to the world, especially if the baby they had created had the capability of hurting others and society as a whole. The monster had feelings and emotions, and the desire for human connection as many of us do. Victor’s abandonment of the monster left immense and unrepairable psychological damage that resulted in the deaths of many, and the impact left on the monster’s life, thus resulting in his eventual suicide.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*